I nearly gave Skins a miss cause I was thrown off by the first episode where the characters main mission was to get one of their friend’s de-flowered. And in that 43-odd minutes episode, there was some nudity, drugs, heavy partying and an almost overdose. I kid you not.

Anyway, not to take a moral high ground but I found it slightly depressing cause a) the characters are all teenagers in college, surely I’m a little old to be watching this; and b) this question HAS to be asked: is it about sex all the time now??

I was at least intrigued enough to read some reviews on the Internet, and I admit I was drawn towards one of the characters – Sidney Jenkins played by Mike Bailey. And yep, if you do know me by now, he is the sidekick

The thing is, you will be drawn to the characters cause each and every one of them are fleshed out nicely and you’ll get the background and goss and the inside scoop on what makes them tick. They might be *junkies*, but that doesn’t necessarily make them bad kids. They might not always come across as the best of pals – especially where Sid is concerned – but they’re still okay.

Another reason I absolutely love this show is cause it’s real. These people don’t look too perfect to be true (read: American tv shows). They have spots and little lumps and imperfections and they are not afraid to show it. Go, them! There are no happy endings, no episode being wrapped up with the learning process or wrapped up in general. The adults are almost as – in some areas more – screwed up than their children.

But most of all it’s believable. The camaraderie between the cast are really good. It’s like a younger, more crass version of Friends but with British accents

I’ve just finished Season 1 (and you have to watch that if only for the amazing rendition of Cat Stevens’ Wild World at the end of the last episode) and while I don’t have a favourite episode, one of my favourite scenes is in Episode 6 when the whole gang – minus Cassie – are packed off to Russia by their History teacher.

Sid is hiding in bed because he has just helped Anwar and this Russian babe escape from her husband, and this is what he says: Every time. Every fucking time. Buy 3 ounces of weed, Sidney. Oh yes sir! Shove a bag of pills up your arse, Sidney. Oh right away. Come help me save some random bin. Oh could I! What have we learnt, Sidney? Your friends are shitheads!

Hilarious, no?

So yeah. Do give Skins a go if you’re looking out for a tv series to watch – like me, you definitely will not regret it.